A Vacant Spark
by Tovc
Summary: Miko, the new girl, tries to brake the quiet emotionless L out of his shell when a series of unfortunate events lands them in the same bunk at Whammy's. Will they find love along the way? LxOC
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyone! Um This is the first chapter of Vacant Spark So go! Read! And stuff!_

_Things I DO own: a box collection of invader Zim DVDdvds A backpack full of stickers and a ferret named Georgie_

_Things I DON'T own: Death Note_

_POVS: Miko, L, 3rd person_

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Two out of every five people wish they could forget their childhood.

I say those people are idiots.

I woke up in a small office, curled up in a large red chair. The blanket that was placed over me smelled like old milk. In front of me I could make out, with my sleep encrusted eyes, a man in a dark blue suit at a desk. He was in about his mid thirties, with worry lines and deep set eyes that said 'I have seen horrible things, done horrible things, and I do not want to talk about it'. He didn't sound very happy with whomever he was talking with on the phone.

"Are you sure that she can't remember anything?"

I stared at him, my expression blank. I couldn't move, couldn't think, I wasn't even sure if I was breathing. Suddenly, it was if Pandora's Box had been opened. It all hit me at once.

_Where am I? What's going on? How did I get here? Who am I?_

I was having a full fledged meltdown.

_I can't remember anything._

I sat up and looked around with panicked eyes. _Breath in, breath out, breathe in, breath out,_ I reminded myself. _Why can't I remember anything?_

The man with the blue suit hung up the phone and looked at me tentatively.

"Who am I?" I asked nervously.

The man gave me a wary look as if he could tell that I was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Your name is Miko Lancaster, you're five years old, your parents just died, and right now you're in Whammy's House for gifted and talented Kids. You've been unconscious for about five days and diagnosed with mild amnesia. That's why you can't remember anything."

All reasonable thought was blown to hell. Everything seemed like a dream. There was no way this could be happening; it was impossible. This happens only to people on TV. I exhaled loudly. I didn't know that I had been holding my breath.

"So this is an orphanage?" I managed to squeak.

"Yes" he said, mockingly calm. He hesitated. "Unfortunately, we're a little…overstocked at the moment. You see, this is a small orphanage, made only for kids who are truly gifted, and due to the fact that we are a little packed, I'm going to have to have you bunk with a boy; usually I wouldn't do this. I have people bunk with others of the same gender to avoid problems, but I believe that there will not be a problem between you two. He doesn't talk much so he won't bother you.""

I was too far gone in freak out mode to manage anything other than a nod. I took another deep breath, thinking ahead to what I could do to make this situation work. I wondered if the boy would like me, what he would be like, etc. I didn't have time to wonder long because I heard the soft click of a door opening and closing. I turned my head to look. Standing there was a kid about my age, maybe a year older. He was wearing low slung jeans and a long sleeved, plain white shirt. He had disheveled, black hair that stuck out in every direction. Dark bags under his eyes showed evidence of lack of sleep, and I suspected he had some sort of spinal disease from the way he was hunched over. He completely ignored my existence and stared blankly ahead at the man in front of him.

"Watari," he stated "You sent for me?" His voice was so...inhuman. It was totally void of emotion.

If Watari looked nervous and panicked before, now he was about to implode. "Yes, this is your new roommate," he said quietly, as if saying the wrong thing would trigger an exploding bomb.

The kid looked at me, watching my face curiously. I stared back, refusing to back down from his stare. After a few minutes of this, he finally spoke.

"If I was after you, you'd be dead right now."

I stared at him some more. "Yes," I replied with a five years old eloquence.

An emotion flitted across his face, but I couldn't catch it. "You should be more careful," he said emotionless. I stared at him, still convinced that I was dreaming. "I'm Lawliet, call me L"

I frowned as I regained control over my senses. L didn't match him at all. I didn't like it. "No," I said defiantly. "I will not, I refuse to refer to you as a letter."

Surprise and amusement flickered across his face. Then he went back to the emotionless face. "Then what are you going to call me?"

I considered it for a moment before blurting out "La? Like a short version of your name?" It came out as a question.

He shrugged indifferently, so I took that as his consent.

"Apparently my name is Miko," I grinned "but you can call me Mi."

La turned to Watari and was filled in on my condition as I climbed down from the giant seat.

We left with an escort, a nice honey blonde lady with clear blue eyes, to go to our bunk.

Normal POV

As the children left, a weary Watari wondered how he was going to deal with the boy and the girl living in the bunk when they got older.

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_ha ha... usually I don't like to write OCs. It interferes with the real story but...._

_So review! I love reviews!_

_And thanks to my beta Mickey8701 for rechecking it!_


	2. Paper Towels

_Hey everyone._

_I hate this chapter with a passion. But it has important stuff in it and I didn't want to make you all wait another two weeks so I post anyways. _

_Thanks to my beta mickey8701_

_Things I own: A blue ipod named Sinatra, a tube of mangled black lipstick, and my annoying neighbor_

_Things I don't own: Death Note_

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I spent the rest of the night staring at the wall of the bunker in awkward silence.

The bunker was about twelve by ten feet, with two small beds about a foot apart in the middle. On one side of my bunker was a door leading outside; on the side of the other bunker was a door leading to a small bathroom.

Every time I tried to make conversation with La, he either blew me off or didn't answer at all. After receiving another mumbled incoherent answer to one of my questions I screamed in frustration.

"A brick wall is more talkative than you are!"

I turned over in bed so that I was facing his bed. He was already facing my bed. We stared at each other silently. Moments passed. La opened his mouth to speak. Then closed it again. He did that several more times, as if trying to work out a crick in his jaw.

More moments passed.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes La opened his mouth again and he finally said something. Something incredibly and utterly nonsensical.

"Did you know that wet paper towels stick?"

He ran off to the bathroom on the far wall and I followed suit. Walking slowly though in favor of bolting to the door. I was surprised he didn't run head first into it.

When I walked inside he had a stack of paper towels on the counter and was running on under the sink. Waiting for it to get wet enough.

I smiled in spite of myself. "Who knew that the teacher's pet had a bad streak?" A small smile worked its way onto his face.

"After they found out about the paper towels, they sent out an extensive search to figure out who it was. They even installed cameras around the campus to 'catch the criminals in the act'."

He threw the wet wad of towels up at the ceiling. They stuck with a soft _thwack!_

"They never did figure out that it was me."

I had taken a piece of paper and ran it under the faucet. It warmed my hands, I hadn't even noticed how cold it was. By the time he had finished the punchline I threw up my ball of paper and laughed. The paper towels missed their mark and fell back down, landing squarely on the top of my head. We stared at each other for a minute and then laughed. _Hard. _La gripped his sides, doubling over in laughter.

I was amazed. I had actually broken into his calm facade. _From this moment on_, I vowed_ I promise to break though his defenses. _

He grinned and grabbed a towel from the rack. I didn't notice how small the bathroom was until now. It was only five feet wide on either side with a little bathtub sink and toilet on the side. A towel rack hung on the glass dower of the tub. He threw the towel over my head and rubbed it all over.

"What are you doing?" I laughed.

"Drying you off…"

I stayed up late the rest of the night trying to make him laugh again (and once even trying to make him mad just to see if it would work), but I couldn't do it again. I eventually ended up falling asleep.

Unfortunately, I ended up falling asleep somewhere other than my own bed…

I opened my eyes and looked at the blurry room. I groaned with the fog of sleep hanging over my mind. I felt something warm radiating from behind me and turned around to snuggle up against it. My face was snuggled in white cloth, which laid over something hard; it felt nothing like the soft sheets on the bed. I looked up and saw the face of a sleeping kid with wild black hair. I looked around wildly.

Curled up around me, with two arms hugging around my waist, was a sleeping La. My eyes widened and I screamed. La's eyes shot open and he stared down at me. His eyes were wide with surprise and his mouth hung wide open. We froze, our faces holding equal expressions of horror. I screamed again as a new thought hit me.

"I'M GONNA GET COOTIES!"

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_Sorry for the super-short chapter! I will reward you all with a very long chapter after this. -Seriously its like 6 pages long- and its waaaay better written. R&R people! Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

-1After Miko had effectively banished all the evil cooties from her body with her 'ever-so-mighty' soap, she began to change back into her normal attire…that was until she remembered that she didn't have normal attire anymore; the orphanage had given her a long-sleeved cotton shirt, with a matching pleated skirt. Both the shirt and the skirt were solid indigo, with green accents. She slipped on the outfit and added white tennis shoes. Miko ran a comb though her short, black hair and decided to leave it at that in the area of morning rituals. Slowly, the girl stuck her head out of the bathroom door. She was surprised to find L on his bed doing…nothing.

He was sitting on his bed, with his legs crossed, and eyes shut. Miko crept forward, keeping her eyes trained on the strange boy as if he would explode. When she was close to his bed she shouted "What are you doing?!"

L twitched. "Mediating. I can hear you. You don't need to shout..."

Miko stepped closer cautiously. "Stop doing that." She poked his knee. "It's creepy…not like murderer-creepy…like zombie-creepy…or like…MOOSE-CREEPY!"

He opened both eyes in order to stare at her, something that proved harder than he thought since he was facing the other direction. "Are you insane?" He unfolded his legs and tossed himself off the bed "Never mind. Don't answer that. Let's just go to class, alright?"

Miko frowned. "Fine, but I'm not coming within five feet of you and your...pervert-ness."

L felt the laughter boiling up in his throat. Miko was glaring wide eyed at him, waving her arms in the air spasmodically. He threw a hand over his mouth in a futile attempt to stop his laughter, but a few chuckles still squeezed their way through his fingers.

Miko glared at the space in front of her, walking ahead of L in order to open the door. She swung the door open, making the poor door swing on its hinges. She promptly walked off and exited the building. Then she heard Ls voice behind her, still laced with amusement.

"The classroom is this way."

She stopped before quickly turning around, and marching off in the direction of L's voice. This time around, Miko followed L so that she could avoid any other misdirection. Despite L's lead, she still maintained her five feet rule. He led her to the edge of the campus where a small building sat. L walked inside and Miko walked in tentatively after him. The room was bare except for a long table in the middle filled with sniveling children and an estranged teacher at the board. The teacher was obviously way in over his head judging from the terrified look on his face. He apparently went by the name of Mr. Beaver. As soon as Miko got her bearings, she began acting coolly again. She sat down at the opposite end of the table, far away from 'Mr. Creepy-Pervert-Man'.

L seemed content with sitting down, ignoring everyone else, and completing the puzzle that functioned as the class assignment. Miko narrowed her eyes at him. The small girl looked down at her own puzzle with a huff. _This piece goes with that piece, and that one with that one. _When she had reached the 300th piece of the puzzle, she glanced over at L; L had completed his entire puzzle, and was now taking it apart. The other kids had only a small portion of their puzzles finished.

Miko stared at her puzzle again with renewed determination, glaring at it with enough force to light a small fire. She looked up at L who was, once again, calmly putting his puzzle together again. She made a small, frustrated sound. Miko contemplated whether or not to give up on the frustrating puzzle all together in favor of talking to L. Not that she wanted to talk to him. Of course she didn't. That would be stupid. Why would the child even want to go near him?

Nonetheless, her feet disobeyed her mind and she found herself walking towards the pervert, who had assembled and dissembled the puzzle so many times that she had lost track.

"I've decided on something." Miko raised her pointer finger in the air, trying to give herself a look of importance. L turned his head in her direction, hiding his surprise. He was so consumed with the tedious puzzle exercise that he didn't notice the girl's arrival.

"And what would that be?" He fought to keep his tone even. She looked so absolutely ridiculous, trying to look very official. She looked more like a Cat in the Hat character. The unnecessarily closed eyes didn't make the image appear any better.

"You're not a pervert..." she cracked opened one eye to look at L. "…at the moment." Then Miko opened of both her eyes and clapped her hands together. "Therefore, I shall help you with your puzzle." Miko sat down in the chair next to L, getting so close to the puzzle that her hair dragged against it. "You seem to be having some trouble with it..." she murmured.

The boy glanced at Miko's half finished puzzle across the table. "I'm not having any-"

"Of course you are." She interjected, waving him off. "Don't be ridiculous."

L bit back a smile. He must have some kind of disease; two years of learning to keep his emotions in check by a trained professional, lost in two days, by a girl he hardly knew. Most humans were easy to read, lazy, stupid, and annoying. Miko was bold, funny, and excitable.

It took him a minute to realize that she was staring at him, possibly worrying for his mental health. "What?" came the delayed response.

Her yellow-green eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You're holding a piece in your hand." She stuck out one little hand, pouting. "Gimme."

He couldn't resist the small smile that had wormed its way onto his face. L handed her the piece with a soft, "Here."

Miko immediately perked up, holding the piece carefully, as if it were the key to the universe. Slowly, with much concentration, she fitted the last piece into the puzzle. She threw her arms up over her head and hummed a fanfare triumphantly. Eventually, Miko's arms fell lamely beside her. She pouted angrily at the puzzle. "Yours was easier."

L stared at her "We all had the same puzzle."

She folded her arms tightly. "Yours was still easier."

The boy rolled his eyes. Then, he heard the teacher speak in his horrible squeaky, hamster like voice, "It's time for lunch."

Apparently everyone knew where the lunchroom was except for Miko, because every kid in the classroom had started to scream loudly while scrambling out of the classroom. Miko s eyes widened dramatically at the oncoming stampede of hungry children. It would have been quite comical if not for the dire situation. She instinctively grabbed on to L's shirt and held on for dear life, hiding her face in the center of his chest.

L gaped down at her in surprise. His head snapped up as a loud crash reminded him that he was about to be demolished by his fellow classmates. He grabbed onto Miko's shirt and dove under the table. The table proved to be efficient in protecting them from the ravenous children. When the pitter-patter of blood thirsty feet wore off, the boy peaked his head out from under the table. "They have all gathered to feed…like suckerfish." He shuddered lightly. L looked carefully at the girl lying under the table. "We're safe."

Miko wormed her way out from under the table. Ignoring everything that L had said, she grabbed his wrist and ran off, top speed, in the direction of the mob of kids. "Food!" She made a small, happy noise. The girl stopped running when she ran into a particularly tall and scary kid. She spun around, glaring softly at L "Stay here," she ordered to the wide eyed boy. Miko sunk to her knees, and slipped between the legs of the scary student. Miko weaved her way in and out of various pairs of legs for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was only minutes.

Meanwhile L waited outside, hyperventilating, as he pictured a thousand different scenarios of how this could possible kill Miko.

Inside, Miko's hard work had paid off as her head hit something that the bruise on her head identified as a counter. Feeling her way up, Miko's eyes reached just over the top, as she grabbed the first two food items that she could see. That's when she found a major flaw in her plan; she couldn't crawl back on her hands and knees if her hands were occupied. Something hard kneed her in the spine as if to emphasize her point. She winced against the pain, and looked around wildly.

In one corner, only 15 feet away, was a fire exit. If she could make it over there, she would be home free. Miko got down on her knees, and balanced herself on her forearms. She shimmied her way through several pairs of legs while keeping the food as steady as she possible. A person suddenly appeared in front of her. Miko dove though the legs, head first, rolling in a ball towards the door. Using her head as a fulcrum, Miko flipped up her legs, balanced herself on her head, and hit her foot on the bar that opened the fire exit door. Unfortunately, her luck with spy movie moves ended with a loud scream as she toppled out the door, landing stomach down on the grass.

Miko opened her eyes to see a pair of bare feet in front of her face. She looked up, confused, to see L's face looking down at her in amusement.

"Nice moves. You should be a cop."

Miko was aghast. "You saw me and didn't even bother to help me?!"

The boy shrugged while taking one of the sundaes out of Miko's hand. "You seemed to have it under control."

The girl noticed that the food she had grabbed off the counter happened to be two strawberry sundaes.

Wait, wait.

She had to get back on topic. "All that was luck! I could have died!"

L turned away, holding the glass with the very tips of his fingers. "I wouldn't have let you get hurt." He added a soft "stupid," to the end of his statement.

She watched and tried to banish the warm feeling that statement gave her (despite the insult tacked onto the end). Miko pushed herself up to sitting position with her forearms, tossing herself over, so that she could follow the stupid traitor to where ever it was he was going.

L dipped his finger into the dessert, licking it off his finger. What was this amazing taste?! Why, he had never taste anything like it before! "What is this?!" L practically screamed at Miko.

She was momentarily paralyzed in confusion. "It's a Strawberry Sundae. People eat them."

L dipped another finger into the glass before popping it back into his mouth. "This is… delicious." His voice was slightly muffled from the sugar coated finger he refused to remove from his mouth. "I am going to only eat this every single day of my life."

Miko, who had been giving him the what-the-hell-is-going-on look, began laughing. "You've never had sugar before?"

L shook his head furiously. "In training, I could only eat healthy foods so I could perform faster." He had decided on drinking the sundae, instead of using his finger. It made the task much easier.

Miko laughed again as she watched the first traces of real emotion appear in L's face.

In his office, Watari watched gravely as all the training, all the work that he had done on the boy, became undone, and none too slowly.

This little girl would be the end of his Lawliet, the end of his career and the great deed that he could have done for the world. This girl, this Miko, was his own personal hell sent from the devil himself. Nothing else could make him feel so conflicted between L's happiness and L's future. He supposed he would have to wait and see how it all played out. He watched the rest of the day from his cameras, up until the pair entered their cabin. Before they entered, he saw Miko yawn.

"I'm really tired," she complained, stretching over her bed like a cat.

L groaned. He was going to kill her if she said that one more time. "Then go to sleep," he said, probably a little too roughly.

Miko stayed silent for a moment. She slid off the bed, the old mattress creaking under the removal of the weight. Timidly, she snuck up in front of L.

He had his eyes closed and was lying on his side, limbs splayed out in front of him. As silently as she could manage, she slipped herself in between L's arms. Miko snuggled into his warm body as his arms wrapped around her stomach. L tensed up for a minute.

Why would she...?

He forced himself to relax so that she wouldn't leave. L cuddled her closer and drifted into a deep sleep.


	4. Sorry

_OK everyone, this deserves an explanation. I havent given up on the story, nor have i exactly fell out of love with the fandom. I am re-writing some chapters and because FanFiction is a difficult place to upload, I may have been putting it off. _

_Plus Homework is just plain evil. _

_I really didn't like how the first three chapters all came out different. I'm still trying to find what my writing style is. Plus I'm facing some inner demons and relizations, yada yada yada. _

_But I'll try to update ASAP._

_Thanks you guys!_


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